USD Magazine Summer 2006

S eagulls skree their raucous song while rays of sun pierce through roiling clouds. Blown-out waves look gray, until they flash a moment of clear aqua wonder before vanishing into flecks of foam. The water rolls back out, ebbing and flowing its ancient song. dance. No, they are hanging on the windblown words of Woody Eckstrom, literally a legend in his own time. He stands before them— under The Shack at La Jolla’s Windansea beach, a palm- frond topped structure very much like the one he helped build a 6 AROUND THE PARK And the students are rapt. Not at the ocean’s endless USD MAGAZINE

THE SCIENCE OF RESPECT New anthropo l ogy c l as s exp l ores the sp i r i t of a l oha by Julene Snyder [ w i n d a n s e a ]

half-century ago— telling of what it was like, back in the day. “We had huge surf here in 1945,” the still-fit Eckstrom recalls, fight- ing to be heard over the strident birds.“And the luaus were amaz- ing. It was one party after another. My parents said, ’You kids will get tired of that beach after awhile’.” Everyone laughs. He tells of riding waves on an ironing board, of overnights on the beach, of trick- ing out the Model T he bought with a war bond so that it could lug the heavy oversized surfboards that early wave-riders fashioned out of the materials at hand. It’s history, live and in person. Though this is definitely an

upper division cultural anthro- pology class, just now it feels like something more. New this year, Anthropology 364: Surf Culture and History, is taught by profes- sor Jerome Lynn Hall. And judg- ing by his smile, this is a moment he’s been looking forward to for a very long time. “When we talk about ritual, celebration, and respect, this is what we’re talking about,” Hall says upon introducing Eckstrom to the group. When the surfing icon takes questions, the students have plenty to ask. “Did you realize you were the first of your kind?” asks one. “Yes, we did,” he answers with a smile.

AROUND THE PARK AROUND THE PARK AROUND THE PARK AROUND THE PARK AROUND THE PARK